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Case Study

Thomas Strothjohann

Newspaper Editor to Junior Developer at Zeit Online

I was working as an editor for the local newspaper "Oberhessische Presse" in Marburg, Germany.

What made you want to start learning to code in the first place?

By working on small blog projects I got obsessed by coding problems but I also knew that I wasn't actually coding but fiddling around and from my work experience I knew that I could land a way more interesting job if I knew how to code. I had unsuccessfully applied for two of those.

How did you come across Makers Academy and what made you decide to apply to the programming course?

I think I had read about Steer.me and started Googleing for it when I had decided to learn how to code. Makers Academy ranked better and offered something way more substantial.

What did you find difficult during the course?

The beginning was hard. I thought I was just too stupid to get encapsulation and proper OOP done.

What happened during/after graduation and where are you job-wise?

I came back to the guy at Zeit.de who had told me a year ago that they had decided to give the job to another applicant who knew how to code. I told them what I had learned and asked him if I could work with them on a small project. The next morning he called and offered me a paid internship in research & development.

How has your life changed since graduation?

I came from a depressed industry (journalism) where graduates can't find jobs and experienced editors lose them for financial reasons. Now I have a leg up in a fast growing industry and skills even news organisations are looking for. That feels great.

What advice would you give to people thinking of changing career?

If you plan to leave your old career and become a full time Developer, prepare for a long and demanding but rewarding trip. If you see a way this ias a way to boost your old career with coding skills it's going to be much easier.

What would you say to people who say £8,000 is very expensive?

It is. If you are disciplined enough to take five months off and learn how to code with online tutorials you can save money. However, the advantage of Makers Academy is that you learn best practices like TDD from the very beginning and that you are pulled forward when you feel like staying at one topic to grasp it entirely. Which made me learn much more in three month than I would have learned on my own.

What was your biggest worry before joining Makers Academy and how do you feel about it now?

That I would really learn how to code but I did! I am not an experienced engineer but I can understand what they are doing and I can build a whole lot of things myself.